Canister filters are a great way to filter your aquarium. Unfortunately, they are often very expensive and offer little customization. Here we present a design for a fully custom DIY aquarium canister filter using a ~7.6 liter cooler and an Ecoplus 396 powerhead pump. This filter project is meant to be a rough guide, something that inspires you to think creatively and adapt new aspects of aquarium filter design.

 

     You can make a DIY canister filter out of several different water tight containers and are not limited to using a water cooler like we do in this video. There are several different ways to plumb your filter and we just use a basic input and output units that we’ve showed you how to make in individual videos. If you run into any issues with your canister filter (leaks), don’t forget that you can always use silicone to patch up weak spots. Making external aquarium filters takes a lot of trial and error so don’t be surprised if at first your project isn’t perfect.